AMSAT NEWS SERVICE
ANS-292
The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor-
mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite
Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space
including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur
Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building,
launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio
satellites.
The news feed on
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/800432327648/list.admin/aus-city.com/ publishes news of Amateur
Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it.
Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:
ans-editor at amsat.org.
In this edition:
* ARISS-US Accepting Proposals To Host Scheduled ISS Contacts In 2015
* Design the Next AMSAT Satellite!
* Russian 'Smart' Mini-Satellites to Go Into Orbit in 2016
* UKSA announces CubeSat payload opportunity
* 4M (Manfred Memorial Moon Mission)
* Space Shuttle Thermal Protective Tiles Available for Educational Use
* HamTV Bulletin #15
* ARISS News
* Satellite Shorts From All Over
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-292.01
ANS-292 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 292.01
From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD.
DATE October 19, 2014
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-292.01
ARISS-US Accepting Proposals To Host Scheduled ISS Contacts In 2015
You are encouraged to share the following "Message to US Educators"
with teachers, administrators and leaders at your local schools,
museums, science centers and scouting organizations.
Message to US Educators
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
Contact Opportunity
Call for Proposals
Proposal Window October 17 - December 15, 2014
The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program
is seeking formal and informal education institutions and
organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur
Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS. ARISS anticipates
that the contact would be held between May 1, 2015 and December 31,
2015. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact
dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is
looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of
participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed
education plan.
THE DEADLINE TO SUMBIT A PROPOSAL IS DECEMBER 15, 2014.
The Opportunity
Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate
in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are
approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students and educators
to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer
session.
An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via
Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space
station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford
education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from
astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn
about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an
opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless
technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human
spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the
ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate
changes in contact dates and times.
Amateur Radio organizations around the world, NASA, and space
agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe sponsor this educational
opportunity by providing the equipment and operational support to
enable direct communication between crew on the ISS and students
around the world via Amateur Radio. In the US, the program is managed
by AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) and ARRL (American
Radio Relay League) in partnership with NASA.
More Information
Interested parties can find more information about the program at
www.ariss.org and
www.arrl.org/ARISS. More details on expectations,
audience, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times
of Information Sessions are available at
www.arrl.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact.Please direct any questions to ariss at arrl dot org.
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Design the Next AMSAT Satellite!
At the 2014 AMSAT Space Symposium AMSAT Vice President - Engineering
Jerry Buxton announced the plan for the next generation of AMSAT
satellites. "The door is open for everyone, to submit their ideas.
AMSAT Engineering has a long term strategy and this is the first
step."
The Engineering long term strategy includes the following goals
* Advancement of amateur radio satellite technical and
communications skills
* Enhance international goodwill
* Grow and sustain a skilled pool of amateur radio satellite engineers
* Establish and maintain partnerships with educational institutions
* Develop a means to use hardware common to all opportunities
With respect to the last goal Jerry said "Within the bounds of the
type of satellite it takes to achieve any of the various orbit
opportunities, let's consider in those plans the possibility of
developing a platform that can suit any and all orbits. Perhaps a
modular CubeSat, using a common bus as we did in Fox-1, which gives
great flexibility in building and flying different sizes and
configurations of CubeSats with simple common-design hardware
changes."
Submissions should be thorough and contain the following
information. The purpose of the proposal is not just in suggesting
an idea; being an all-volunteer team AMSAT needs your help in
carrying out the idea.
* Design
* Implementation - CubeSat platform
* Estimated timeline
* Cost - volunteer resources, commercial (COTS) units
* Launch - how does it get to orbit
* Strategy - how it fits into AMSAT's Engineering long term strategy
As mentioned above the idea should be based on the CubeSat platform.
This is the standard through which we will look for launches in the
foreseeable future.
In considering your proposal, Jerry encourages you to contact him
for more details on the criteria. In particular, if you plan to
include a university as a partner to provide experiments or other
support and you are not representing that university, please contact
Jerry for assistance in working with our existing partners or
establishing a new partnership.
"Being amateur radio operators, it is easy for us to fall into a
particular trap because of our history of communicating with other
amateurs throughout the world" says Jerry. "Specifically, most
people who are not already involved in the world of satellite
technology are unaware of or simply overlook the provisions of the
current ITAR and soon to be EAR export rules particularly with regard
to deemed exports which requires governmental permission to discuss
satellite projects with foreign nationals."
While all amateurs are invited to submit ideas, U.S. amateurs must
take particular care of they choose to become involved in a
collaboration which includes individuals from other countries. It is
permissible to receive ideas and proposals from outside the U.S., but
it is not permitted for U.S. Persons to export or share design ideas
with other countries unless they have taken the proper steps to
insure compliance with ITAR and deemed export rules.
Additionally, those wishing to work on proposals should use care in
presenting themselves in their contacts. While the goal is for AMSAT
to build and launch the satellite, it is not an AMSAT project until
it is accepted by the AMSAT Board of Directors. It is acceptable to
represent yourself as members of a project team that plans to submit
a proposal to AMSAT for a future satellite project, as the AMSAT name
is well known.
"It is not our intention that ideas be submitted to AMSAT-NA which
would be more appropriately handled by an AMSAT organization in a
country where AMSAT is established. AMSAT-NA is seeking ideas from
amateurs in North America and will certainly consider ideas from
amateurs in countries which do not have an established AMSAT
organization or relationships with an existing AMSAT organization."
The deadline for submissions is May 30, 2015. After the submission
date the ideas will be screened for completeness and then reviewed by
a board consisting of the AMSAT Engineering Team, AMSAT Senior
Officer and Board of Directors representatives, and aerospace
industry members. The review board may modify or consolidate ideas
and will consider which meet the criteria to become a project based
on feasibility, cost, and the ability to bring value to the amateur
satellite community. The review process is expected to be completed
in September 2015.
For those ideas selected to become a project which satisfy the
requirements for an ELaNa launch, the idea authors will be asked to
work with the AMSAT Engineering Team on an ELaNa proposal.
The Engineering Team will then work on the details of execution for
the selected project(s) and present a proposal to the AMSAT Board of
Directors in October 2015 for final approval to begin work. Once
approved, any ELaNa proposals will be submitted in November 2015 and
the project(s) will move forward.
Now is the time for YOU to begin working on the next AMSAT satellite!
[ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information]
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Russian 'Smart' Mini-Satellites to Go Into Orbit in 2016
The first group of Russian "smart" mini-satellites should be
launched into orbit in 2016, Mikhail Sonkin, the Deputy Governor of
Russia's Tomsk Region, said Wednesday.
"The signing of an agreement on the creation of an association to
carry out projects in the sphere of the development of groups of
miniature satellites is in progress...The launch [of the satellites]
is planned for 2016," Sonkin, who is responsible for the scientific
and educational complex and innovation policy in the region, said at
the Open Innovations Forum in Moscow.
A number of Russian universities and space industry companies are
expected to join the association, which will work on creating
software to control groups of mini-satellites and improve their
interaction with each other.
According to Sonkin, members of the association, which will include
Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) and Tomsk State University (TSU),
will also be working on developing new materials for the space
industry and on establishing communication networks in remote areas.
Last month, Chairman of the Presidium of the Tomsk Scientific Center
of the Siberian Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergey
Psakhie announced that Russian scientists were planning to create
unique mini-satellites capable of group interaction.
The satellites, similar to CubeSat developed in the United States,
would be able to self-educate and repair each other without leaving
the Earth's orbit.
Source: RIA Novosti
[ANS thanks SpaceDaily.com for the above information]
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UKSA announces CubeSat payload opportunity
The UK Space Agency (UKSA) has announced an opportunity to fly
payloads on the 3U CubeSat AlSat-1N.
AlSat-Nano is primarily an education programme, its top level
objective is to teach Algerian students how to design, build and
operate a 3U CubeSat. The programme involves a number of Algerian
graduate students who will be hosted at the Surrey Space Centre
(University of Surrey) and focuses on the development of the CubeSat
as a hands-on learning exercise for the students, to demonstrate the
practical implementation of this type of low cost space technology.
As well as the practical element of the programme there will be a
focus on research modules around the use of low cost nano-satellite
technologies and applications in developing nations such as Algeria,
which would help to create sustainable growth and have practical uses
such as earthresource management (agriculture, water), atmospheric
monitoring, and disaster management.
The design and build of the nano-satellite will take place at Surrey
Space Centre. Final assembly, integration and verification will take
place at the ASAL satellite development facility in Oran, Algeria.
Operations will be carried out from Oran also.
The bus will be built using hardware sourced from UK suppliers and
the CubeSat will also carry payloads which will be supplied by the UK
CubeSat community. These payloads will be selected in a competitive
process following an Announcement of Flight Opportunity which will be
issued in December 2014.
The precise interface specifications will be developed during the
first trimester of the project to be integrated in the Announcement
of Opportunity, however it is foreseen that a maximum volume of 1U
(10cm x 10cm x 10cm) and maximum mass of 1kg will be available for
payloads. The selection of the payloads will be carried out in early
2015 via a selection panel.
Payloads must be ready for functional testing and integration by
September 2015. Launch will be in Q2 2016. Because of the educational
and collaborative nature of the programme there are two further
specific points that should be noted:
* Payload providers must be actively engaged in all programme
reviews and an active participant in the consortium
* Payload providers must be willing to share payload data with the
programme for research purposes, and to receive interpreted payload
data via the ASAL ground segment in Oran, Algeria
Submissions should be sent to Ryan King, UK Space Agency -
ryan.king@ukspaceagency.bis.gsi.gov.uk with 'AlSat-Nano RFI' as the
subject line. The deadline for responses is 12 noon, November 14th
2014. Submissions received after this time will not be read.
RFI PDF
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/383076079841/list.admin/aus-city.com/UK Space Agency Announcement
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/485184802437/list.admin/aus-city.com/[ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information]
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4M (Manfred Memorial Moon Mission)
4M or Manfred Memorial Moon Mission is a mission dedicated to
LuxSpace founder, Prof. Manfred Fuchs, who died early this year. The
mission is a lunar flyby of a spacecraft that is attached to the last
stage of a Chinese Long March 3C rocket. The launch is scheduled for
October 23, 2014 at 1800 UTC.
Beijing plans to launch a Lunar spacecraft on a journey lasting 196
hours that should take it around the Moon before returning and re-
entering the Earth's atmosphere. It will carry a 14 kg payload known
as 4M-LXS which was developed at LuxSpace.
The 4M-LXS amateur radio payload will transmit on 145.980 MHz +/-
2.9kHz (-40°C to +125°C), Doppler max: -2200Hz, +1000Hz. The
continuous transmissions will start 4670s (77.8 minutes) after launch
(-0, +600s). Five successive 1 minute sequences are sent during the 5
minutes cycle. The digital mode JT65B will be used, this can be
decoded by radio amateurs using the free WJST software, there will
also be 'human readable' tone transmissions. See the transmit
sequence description on page 14 of 4M Mission: a Lunar FlyBy
experiment available at
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/278832328702/list.admin/aus-city.com/During the lunar flyby, the range will be 399,636 km at the most and
the distance to the Moon will be between 12,000 and 24,000 km
depending on the final injection vector. The transmitter produces 1.5
watts to a simple Monopole antenna which should give a Signal to
Noise ratio ( S/N) comparable to amateur moon bounce (EME) signals at
the Earth's surface.
LuxSpace encourages radio amateurs around the world to receive the
transmissions and send in data. There will be a number of Experiments
and Contests with prizes to the winners in each experiment and
category. Details are given on page 19 of 4M Mission: a Lunar FlyBy
experiment.
A Java client will be made available to automatically send the WSJT
ALL.TXT and the decoded.txt files to a central database.
The orbiter is one of the test models for Beijing's new lunar probe
Chang'e-5, which will be tasked with landing on the moon, collecting
samples and returning to Earth. The launch is aimed at testing the
technologies that are vital for the success of Chang'e-5. The orbiter
will be launched into Lunar Transfer Orbit (LTO) then will perform a
flyby around the Moon and re-enter the Earth's atmosphere after 196
hours (9 days).
The orbiter arrived by air in Xichang, Sichuan on Sunday, August 10
and was then transported to the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
The integration of the LX0OHB-4M amateur radio payload was completed
on Sunday night, October 12 and is now ready to launch
The onboard clock has been adjusted to start JT65B (145.980 MHz) at
the UTC minute +/-1 second. It is likely to drift during the mission,
and manual offset introduction will be required after a week or so.
The launch date is October 23 at 1800 UTC.
Beginning of transmission of 4M will start between 1917 UTC and 1927
UTC. Refer to the provided maps and animations links in the blog
section (see also older messages) to determine your visibility.
Alternatively, use the 'tracking' section where you can compute your
tracking elements by introducing your geographic coordinates. The
table can be copied/pasted into a text file. As the apparent movement
will be close (and closer) to the one one of the Moon, manual
pointing is easy but for the largest arrays.
The link budget is quite tight, but the first hours should give
comfortable signals. QSB is to be expected.
As JT65B is used: please remind those not yet too familiar with it
that the receiver must not be tuned during the transmission. A
dedicated webpage is being written to detail the procedure.
A dedicated java application is also available to automatically
transmit the decoded messages to the 4M website and ease the data
collection. (Thanks to LSE Space). Alternatively, you can also send
the decoded messages by eMail, sending the ALL.txt file.
For those not wishing to use JT65B, please record the signals
(11025s/s, 8or 16 bits, mono), taking care not to saturate the
recording and NO MP3 please.
SpectrumLab is an excellent choice, although some may wish to use
simpler recording software.
You can imagine that the team is quite eager to receive the first
reports, so, do not hesitate to mail immediately, send decoded
messages or even phone or text me at +352 661 678 986.
Our friends of IC CMalaga are also quite eager to receive the
results of their radiation dosimeter experiment.
Basic rules of the contest have been delineated in the blog section.
Complete rules will be published soon.
Stay tuned on our website or Facebook page.
The following is a tentative set of orbital elements that should
remain valid from the launch to at least up to the October 27 when
using usual classical and simple tracking software which does not
integrate Moon.
1 99999U 14298.79728009 .00000066 00000-0 00000-0 0 00006
2 99999 030.6553 295.6956 9746689 147.2577 071.9585 00.10600338000010
The following set is to be used after the flyby from October 28
onwards
1 99999U 14301.79728009 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 00009
2 99999 049.9434 067.2017 6639865 045.9865 124.5019 00.06612018000010
Details on receiving signals from the Manfred Memorial Moon Mission
(4M) can be found at
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/126248631731/list.admin/aus-city.com/Ghislain Ruy LX2RG
Email ruy@luxspace.lu with "4M Amateur" in the subject
Manfred Memorial Moon Mission (4M)
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/832923456870/list.admin/aus-city.com/Facebook
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/242093717071/list.admin/aus-city.com/The launch will be broadcast by CNTV/CCTV:
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/812490309601/list.admin/aus-city.com/ or
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/055692440583/list.admin/aus-city.com/ or
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/182758056611/list.admin/aus-city.com/Information animations and some JT65B test files at
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/486685425519/list.admin/aus-city.com/AMSAT-UK
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/993204287612/list.admin/aus-city.com/Facebook
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/212348085321/list.admin/aus-city.com/Twitter
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/151543547803/list.admin/aus-city.com/[ANS thanks LuxSpace.lu, AMSAT-UK and Southgate ARN for the above
information]
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Space Shuttle Thermal Protective Tiles Available for Educational Use
NASA invites eligible U.S. educational institutions and museums to
request space shuttle thermal protective tiles and other special
items offered on a first-come, first-served basis while quantities
last. Organizations previously allocated thermal protective tiles may
request an additional three tiles.
There will be a nominal shipping fee that must be paid online with a
credit card. To make a request for special items online, visit
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dad...T/376381085900/list.admin/aus-city.com/.Questions about this opportunity should be directed to
GSAXcessHelp@gsa.gov.
[ANS thanks NASA Education Express Message -- Oct. 16, 2014 for the
above information]
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HamTV Bulletin #15
Ham Video reception with low gain antenna.
Tonino Giagnacovo IZ8YRR did an experiment with a low gain antenna
during the Ham Video commissioning.
Tonino wrote an article about this experiment, which was published
in Radio Rivista, the magazine of ARI, Associazione Radioamatori
Italiani, the Italian IARU society.
Tonino translated his article in English. It is now available on the
ARISS-Europe website:
www.ariss-eu.orgPlease see left column.
Thanks to Tonino for making his article available in English.
73, Gaston Bertels - ON4WF
ARISS-Europe chairman
[ANS thanks Gaston ON4WF for the above information]
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ARISS News
ARISS-US is Accepting Proposals To Host Scheduled ISS Contacts In 2015
See lead story above or visit
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/596209224399/list.admin/aus-city.com/+ A Successful contact was made between Team Sky and Rocket (NPO
Sora-To-Rocket-Dan), Aichi, Japan and Astronaut Gregory Wiseman
KF5LKT using callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2014-10-09 09:00 UTC
and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was direct via
8J2YSM.
ARISS Mentor was 7M3TJZ.
+ A Successful contact was made between Pilton Bluecoat School,
Barnstaple, United Kingdom and Astronaut Gregory Wiseman KF5LKT using
callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2014-10-08 10:08 UTC and lasted
about nine and a half minutes. Contact was telebridged via W6SRJ.
ARISS Mentor was MØXTD.
+ A Successful contact was made between Indiana Area School
District, Indiana, PA, USA and Astronaut Alexander Gerst KF5ONO using
callsign NA1SS/IRØISS. The contact began 2014-10-17 16:41 UTC and
lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was telebridged via
IK1SLD.
ARISS Mentor was AJ9N.
Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule
From 2014-11-10 to 2014-12-07, there will be no US Operational
Segment (USOS) hams on board ISS. So any schools contacts during this
period will be conducted by the ARISS Russia team.
Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 931.
Each school counts as 1 event.
Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 909.
Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot.
Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 46.
A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the
file.
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/980578130957/list.admin/aus-city.com/QSL information may be found at:
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/391198015341/list.admin/aus-city.com/ISS callsigns: DPØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS
The successful school list has been updated as of 2014-10-10 06:30
UTC.
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/139439828154/list.admin/aus-city.com/Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/017274732469/list.admin/aus-city.com/Exp. 40/41 on orbit
Maxim Suraev
Gregory Wiseman KF5LKT
Alexander Gerst KF5ONO
Exp. 41/42 on orbit
Barry Wilmore
Alexander Samokutyayev
Elena Serova
[ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above
information]
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Satellite Shorts From All Over
+ Yes, it is rocket science... a nasty place to ride...
Bob Bruninga WB4APR offers the following link of interest.
To see the violence that a cubesat has to go through, here is a test
we did today on a power supply board.
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/837619199914/list.admin/aus-city.com/ (1 meg file)
It failed even before we got to the 22G requirement!
[ANS thanks Bob WB4APR for the above information]
+ Why radio hams should consider 3D printing
Mike Grauer, Jr, KE7DBX, asks radio amateurs to think about how 3D
printers can be used in home construction
He says:
As a member of the ham radio community, I have always been
fascinated by the maker mindset which has existed since the early
days of radio. From making radio equipment from scratch, to kits and
even modifying commercially available equipment, the maker movement
and radio go hand in hand.
The 3D printing community shares many traits with the ham radio
movement. At the heart of it all is making, creating and inventing.
And just like ham radio operators, those involved with 3D printing
are constantly learning new technical skills that can be used in
other areas of our lives.
Read the full story at
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/832550195835/list.admin/aus-city.com/[ANS thanks Southgate ARN for the above information]
+ New Website For Indian Amateur Satellite Organization
Posted by our UK friends on Southgate ...
The Indian amateur satellite organisation have launched a new website
The site describes two projects which AMSAT-India is currently
working on, a 435/145 MHz linear transponder and a 435 MHz CubeSat
communication sub system.
Some back issues of the AMSAT-India newsletter are available for
download.
Web
http://www.aus-city.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/r/RADIOCOMM_LIST/625339728258/list.admin/aus-city.com/---------------------------------------------------------------------
/EX
